Service charge adjustment platform

ABSTRACT

A method of providing a representative or customer with an opportunity to electronically process a request to adjust, refund or waive a service charge on various products and services, comprising the steps of a) receiving requests via various channels such as phone, facsimile, in person, on-line, etc.; b) maintaining an electronic site on a computer network which representative or customer may connect; c) presenting at least one electronic screen over the network to a representative or customer who has connected to the electronic site, including a first input field operable to receive a first command from the representative or customer indicative of a type of adjustment; d) electronically delivering the first command to an automated interface which converts a format of the first command to another format; and presenting a decision to the representative or customer in response to the first command.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority and benefit of, and incorporates by reference, provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/153,909 filed Sep. 14, 1999 and entitled SERVICE CHARGE REENGINEERING REDESIGN PROCESS MODEL.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system and method for enabling receiving, servicing, decision-making on, maintaining and administrating service charge adjustments over an automated platform, and more particularly, to a system and method for providing a fully automated process for receiving a request for a service charge adjustment by a customer, and processing the request within a financial institution prior to delivering a decision on whether to approve the request in a totally paperless environment. Important components of the system and method include an integrated platform that supports customer requests for service charge adjustments; links to other account systems to validate customer fees, and profitability and workflow/decision-making software. The term integrated platform refers to the capability of the present invention to provide customers and customer service representatives with the opportunity to process customer requests through a single system architecture, automatically, and in a paperless environment.

2. Related Art

Service charge adjustment systems, which utilize electronic transmission of customer account data and adjustments to accounts on-line have been developed. In these systems, customers provide account holder and fee data which is sufficient to determine the validity of a service charge to an account record and provide a card for cash funding. Customers generally are required to provide sufficient detail of the transaction that caused the fee in the form of a receipt, statement, and/or other circumstantial information before the charge can be reviewed and a determination made to approve or deny the request for adjustment.

Customer information system and/or processes have also been developed to allow non-electronic requests to be forwarded to a financial institution or other entity by mail, facsimile or other means. The customer provides the same account holder data as required above including the circumstances surrounding the charge in question, and forwards the information to the entity for processing and decision. The financial institution or other entity subsequently reviews the information and provides the customer with a response to the request in the form of a credit notice or reason for denying the request.

Customer access websites are currently under development and are available on the Internet. These systems typically require the customer to provide the same account information as required above, and generally involve a back-office area that reviews and researches the request. Usually the back-office receives the request and some form of research of the information prior to a decision to refund the fee or deny the request.

The process steps and/or systems to be provided in the present invention may be individually available through other companies and/or financial entities. However, there is no known integrated, seamless automated system in existence that can support an end-to-end “one and done” process on a single platform. Further, no financial institution or other entity is able to offer the ability for reviewing and processing customer requests across multiple lines of business, as in the present invention, or to support a fully automated, paperless process for the receiving, researching, decision-making and monitoring of such customer requests

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to overcome the disadvantages in the art of the decision-making process in adjusting or waiving fees for service charges, the present invention provides a software and hardware system with increased diversity in the delivery of electronic decision-making in a virtually paperless, electronic method.

The present invention is a software driven system that is capable of accepting customer data in a plurality of diverse media and formats over numerous, different communication channels. Customers or customer service representatives can submit all the required account holder information on-line in a secure environment. The electronic research and decision-making processes are accessible via data feed, and is also accessible on the Internet. An embodiment of the present invention will be part of but not limited to Chase.com, Global Workspace, Chase Online Banking for Consumer and/or Small Business, or standalone.

The drawbacks of the prior art have been ameliorated and the above and other objects of the invention have been realized in the form described below, by the Service Charge Adjustment (“SCA”) platform inventors who have worked under the auspices of the assignee of the present invention, The Chase Manhattan Bank (“Chase”).

The present invention, referred to as the Service Charge Adjustment platform, is designed to automatically receive information from a customer service representative or customer, with a means to automatically process the information as indicated, and automatically respond in an appropriate manner. In contrast, in today's environment, similar systems require either human intervention in the form of determining the applicability of the request, reviewing current account information, or other forms.

An integral part of the system and method of the invention is the incorporation and integration of middleware and workflow technology to support business rules and business roles in making a decision regarding a request for fee adjustment, refund or waiver. The workflow system contains the business rules and roles to determine a consistent and intelligent decision for a service charge adjustment request (i.e. approved, denied or referred for further research), based on the customer's relationship and profitability. The SCA platform interacts with the bank's financial and accounting systems to retrieve the data needed to support the business rules (e.g., a customer account record, applicability of the charge, account profitability) as a means of determining whether to approve, deny or refer the request. The middleware system updates the SCA Relational Database real-time, with all service charge adjustment requests to facilitate problem analysis. The system also interacts with various lines of business data banks containing customer account information, transaction histories, current transaction activity, and derived analytical and statistical data as well as external sources of information such as the Internet.

The processes and methods in the present invention utilize existing technology including but not limited to WORKFLOW TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS RULES/ROLES DECISION SYSTEMS, LOTUS NOTES and/or other email systems, TOUCHPOINT and other front-end screen technology, middleware, and other such technology as known in the art. At the point of receipt, the SCA platform electronically transmits the customer data to the line of business (LOB) accounting system, which reviews the customer account data including but not limited to validity of the service charge, account profitability, coupled with the business rules that consider high value customer protocols, one time courtesy policy, bank error criteria, customer error criteria and threshold amounts. The business rules and roles dictate representative empowerment levels. The platform contains built-in decision-making functions triggered by the business rules and roles, that allow for flexibility not currently available in an integrated platform in the art.

The system in the present invention allows interaction of proprietary financial and accounting systems across lines of business either domestically or internationally in a manner well known in the art. Additional applications include a relational database for capturing and monitoring all requests and transactions. Examples of data capture on the relational database include all service charge adjustment requests, and pertinent indicative information received via the middleware system, predefined queries and filters to assist in reviewing profitability measures, excessive adjustments and fraud criteria and customized Management Information Systems (MIS) for review and reporting purposes.

The SCA platform is used for a plurality of purposes including: 1) decision-making system for determining whether to approve/deny/refer customer requests for service charge adjustments; 2) monitoring volumes and dollars of service charge adjustments by line of business; and 3) determining root causes for recurring processing errors leading to service charges being levied to customers.

The types of service charges received may include but are not limited to late fees, service fees, overdraft charges, interest charges, and wire transfer fees. Of the fees cited above, those caused by Bank Error or related to High Value Customer and One-Time Courtesy requests are new and have not been systemically included in the current decision-making process capability currently available in the art.

Back-office support for the SCA platform exists in the form of research on requests that cannot be processed at the point of contact (e.g. data not on file, no-match found for customer claim, etc.); support staff to review customer requests received electronically through the Internet or other on-line method; a review group comprised of Audit, Risk Management, Product Management, and Data Security Staff to monitor and respond to customer service charge adjustment transactions; and Customer Service Support which is described in more detail below.

Customer Service for the (i.e. debit card or bank card that allows the customer to access the customer's account) offered to customers via the Electronic Funds Delivery (EFD) platform is provided through multiple channels as the customer chooses. First, the customer has access to all financial and non-financial information on-line via a network connection (such as the Internet) to the financial entity such as Chase.Com, Global Workspace or other such sites. Financial information may include transaction history for master/sub-account card types, and/or individual cards, current balances, balance requirements to fund existing and/or new cards, fee data and the like. Non-financial data includes card status changes, cardholder name/address changes and related data, company profiles (e.g., security access to data, authorized viewers, transactors, etc.).

A second means of customer service is available via direct contact with Customer Service Representatives (CSR), or telephone-based CSR within the line of business or at centralized call centers. CSRs have on-line access to financial and non/financial data to respond to customer inquiries and/or requests for information.

Customers have the option to view the financial data on-line, print the data locally, and/or have, a hard copy statement provided to them.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention, which refers to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system suitable for providing customers and/or CSRs with an opportunity to electronically open an inquiry on a SCA request;

FIG. 2 is flow diagram illustrating the control steps performed by the SCA system for opening SCA inquiries via person to person contact with a customer service representative according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the control steps performed by the SCA system when a customer contacts the financial institution via mail (e.g. mail, e-mail or facsimile).

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating further the control steps performed by the SCA system when a customer initiates a request for an SCA using an electronic network (i.e. the Internet) according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the control steps performed by the SCA system in making a decision regarding the SCA request according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing the steps involved when an SCA request is granted.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram outlining the steps taken by the present invention when an SCA request is denied.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the steps according to the present invention when an SCA request is referred for further consideration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals indicate like elements, there is shown in FIG. 1 a block diagram of a system which is capable of providing customers 30 with an opportunity to establish a claim or inquiry about a service charge via, for example, 1) transmission of data over a network, such as the Internet 24; 2) via facsimile or mail 25; or 3) via direct contact 27 with CSRs at a branch or call center.

The system shown generally as 10, includes a service charge adjustment (SCA) platform 48 that is preferably a part of a financial services provider (not shown) such as a bank. SCA platform 48 includes a network interface 46 which preferably includes at least a firewall 46 a and an Internet application server 46 b. SCA platform 48 also includes a profitability system 45, line of business (LOB) systems 43, a general ledger system 44 and an SCA system 42. SCA system 42 includes middleware software 42 a, workflow software 42 b and databases 42 c. The specific functioning of the above elements will be discussed in more detail below.

Customer 30 can request an SCA in at least three basic ways according to the present invention, without limitation.

1. Customer 30 signs on to an electronic network such as the Internet and logs on a site hosted by the financial institution and electronically requests the SCA.

2. Customer 30 communicates by mail, E-mail, facsimile or other written form of communication 25 (referred to as “mail” for the purposes of this application) with the financial institution requesting an SCA. The mail is routed to a CSR 35 who enters the request into the platform 48; or

3. Customer 30 contacts a CSR 35 in person, for example, by visiting a branch office of the financial institution or by telephone. The CSR enters customer 30 request and informs customer 30 of the decision.

Preferably, SCA platform 48 maintains an electronic site, such as a website, which is accessible over the Internet 24 or other network (e.g., intranet, etc.) to which customers 30 may connect in a manner well known in the art. Preferably the website maintained by the service charge adjustment platform 48, is hosted in a shared operating system environment consistent with bank standards and infrastructure.

The website preferably permits customers 30 to provide sufficient information to SCA platform 48 to establish a record of the transaction in question, initiate research on the inquiry, and render a decision on whether to approve, deny or refer the customer request for further consideration.

As discussed previously, customer 30 is provided with at least three ways to initiate an SCA request. Customer 30 may contact the SCA platform through mail 25. Mail 25 is read and processed by CSR 35 and directed to the appropriate LOB 43 which forwards it for processing by the SCA platform 48. It is preferred to respond to customer 30 in the same manner in which the request was received (i.e., mail, facsimile or E-mail).

Customer 30 may also initiate an SCA request “in person” with CSR 35 who has access to the SCA platform 48 where the request is then processed by the SCA platform 48 and the result (approve, deny or send for further consideration) is communicated to customer 30 by CSR 35.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, illustrating a flow diagram for the control sequences performed by SCA platform 48 for customers 30 who contact CSR 35 in person at a call center or other point of contact or by telephone. Reference numeral 100 indicates the sequences performed by a CSR 35 to initiate an inquiry for an adjustment to a service charge. To facilitate the initiation of the customer inquiry, CSR 35 receives customer information 95 a which typically includes name, account number, date of transaction, dollar amount of service charge, product or service, reason for inquiry/claim, and such additional data that may be requested or required.

SCA platform 48 utilizes customer information 95 a to establish the validity of the inquiry 95.

Control sequence 200 involves the electronic opening of an inquiry by the CSR 35 in a paperless manner by entering the SCA request data 200. At control sequence 202, the CSR 35 determines whether the amount of the adjustment in question is within his or her empowerment threshold as set in each line of business 202. For amounts that exceed the empowerment threshold, the representative refers the inquiry to a supervisor 202 a who performs the remaining steps as outlined below. To initiate sequence 204, the system retrieves the business rules data 204 and transmits the information to middleware software 206 which in turn passes it to business systems 208. Line of business (LOB) systems 208 is required to review the data, establish an inquiry record and to initiate research when required.

Once the data passes through middleware software 206 to the appropriate line of business 208 from which the charge was levied, the data preferably loops back through Middleware software 206 to the business rules criteria 204.

At step 210, service charge adjustment platform 48 applies the decision rules and preferably provides the CSR 35 with an electronic file in the same format as the data was received, with information including account holder name and Social Security number (as provided by the customer) and passes the information to workflow software 212 to implement a decision on whether to grant 300, deny 400 or route the inquiry to the line of business backoffice for further research 500. More detail regarding steps A, B, C and D is provided below.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 that illustrates a flow diagram for the control sequences performed by SCA platform 48 for customers 30 who contact the provider by mail, facsimile, e-mail or other similar means 25. Reference numeral 50 is the step performed by CSR 35 which includes reviewing the incoming correspondence 25 from customer 30. As described previously, CSR 35 initiates a SCA request 100 as well as enters customer information 95 a which is included in mail 25 in order to validate the inquiry 95. At control sequence 200 the CSR 35 initiates the adjustment inquiry using all steps as noted in FIG. 2. Additionally, because customer 30 contact is initially made by mail 25, the decision to grant 300, deny 400 or refer 500 along with an explanation of that decision is preferably communicated to customer 30 using the same method as the original mail 25 (i.e. mail, facsimile, e-mail or the like) 600.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4 that illustrates a flow diagram for the control sequences performed by service charge adjustment platform 48 for customers 30 who contact the provider by using an electronic network, preferably the Internet 24. Customer 30 initiates an inquiry for an SCA request by selecting the appropriate “clickable” links. Customer 30 is preferably guided to an Internet website 25 which includes a welcome log-in screen as is known in the art on a homepage 25 h maintained by the provider. Preferably, homepage 25 h is hosted by an Internet application server 46 b (FIG. 1) which provides the necessary interconnectivity. Security considerations such as maintaining user names and passwords is also a function of network interface 46 (FIG. 1). Customer 30 is presented with the opportunity to request an SCA by entering the required information preferably by interacting with main menu 70. Internet website 25 preferably establishes communication with the financial institution 80 in order to allow customer 30 access to SCA platform 48 (FIG. 1) via financial software that may include but is not limited to Chase.Com, Chase On-line Banking, or other such program.

Once communication with the financial institution has been established 80, customer 30 is given access to service charge adjustment request menu 90 located on Internet website 25. Service charge adjustment request menu 90 preferably provides customer 30 with an electronic screen provided over Internet 24, prompting customer 30 to select from a plurality of sequence choices. Main menu 25 m located on website 25 links to service charge adjustment request menu 90 allowing customer 30 to interact with SCA platform 48. Customer 30 is preferably prompted to enter a sign-on and password to establish communication with financial institution 80 access via Internet 24 or other means. This access 80 preferably passes through a firewall 46 a to Internet application server 46 b (FIG. 1) establishing communication between the provider and customer 30.

Once communication is established, customer 30 enters customer information 95 a sufficient to validate the service charge adjustment request 95 as discussed above. Because customer 30 is interacting with a website 25, selections are preferably executed by way of a command (via an icon, input dialogue box, or similar means) as is known in the art.

At control sequence 200, customer 30 selects the service charge adjustment request option from the menu (not shown). Customer 30 may be required to re-enter account holder data including name, address, date of service charge transaction, service charge amount, reason for inquiry and/or request for adjustment, and any other data that may be requested or required. However, it is preferable to record this information from step 95 without requiring customer 30 to re-enter the information. SCA platform 48 preferably provides an edit/validation message (e.g., data missing, or incorrect format etc.) to customer 30 if the request cannot be processed as entered. Customer 30 is preferably provided with an electronic confirmation that the information was received 202 c. Other options available to customer 30 at step 200 include sending an e-mail asking to speak with a CSR 202 a and obtaining additional information by referring to help screens 202 b.

At step 204, the service charge adjustment request enters the review process as previously described except that the decision to grant 300, deny 400 or refer 500 is preferably displayed to customer 30 on website 25. A confirmation of the decision is preferably sent to customer 30 (not shown).

Preferably website 25 permits customer 30 to loop back to, for example, main menu 70 (by activating an appropriate icon or other means) at substantially any point during the control process flow as is known in the art (not shown).

Reference is now made to FIG. 5 that illustrates a flow diagram for the business rules and roles for SCA platform 48. At control sequence 302 (from A, FIGS. 2, 3 and 4), service charge adjustment platform 48 validates that a service charge exists, and enters the business rules process. At steps 304, 306, 308, 310 and 312, if the customer meets any of the criteria as set by the line of business, the request will be granted 304 a. The business rules are designated so that each element will be checked in sequence to determine whether to grant, deny or refer the request for further consideration.

If a special status exists 306, the request will be forwarded to the appropriate backoffice area for follow-up 306 a and the customer 30 will be notified 600. In the case where the request is due to a bank error 308, the request will always be granted 304 a. The request must also be checked (when denied) to see if it originates from a high value customer 310, in which case it will be granted 304 a. However, if granting a request will change the status of a customer from profitable to unprofitable 312, the request is next checked for excessive refunds 314 and referred to a supervisor 314 a to review and/or over-ride if there are an excessive number of refunds. If there have not been excessive refunds (as determined by the appropriate line of business rules) the request is checked to see if a one-time courtesy adjustment has been granted and if a one-time courtesy adjustment has not been previously applied, the request is granted 304 a. If a one-time courtesy credit has already been applied, the request is routed to supervisor 314 a for further consideration 318. If the request is not justified, the request is denied 304 b. Additionally, it is preferred, that when a request has been granted by a supervisor even though there have been an excessive number of requests (on the assumption that they are justified) 304 a, the decision is forwarded to an employee fraud criteria system 320 where the adjustment can be marked as suspicious 320 a.

A certain number of requests can also be forwarded to the employee fraud criteria system 320 on a random or systematic basis.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6 that illustrates a flow diagram for the control sequences performed by service charge adjustment platform 48 received via workflow software 212 when granting an adjustment request 300 (see B in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4). It is preferred that all service charge adjustment transactions are captured on a service charge refund database 42 c via middleware software 42 a (900). Control sequences 700, 800, and 900 include but are not limited to updating the General Ledger system 700, updating the LOB system 800, and/or updating the service charge refund database 900. Service charge refund database 42 c captures all transactions in a manner that allows MIS reports, queries, and on-line reviews of past and present revise or create history. At control sequence 904, a review group is provided with at least, but not limited to, an opportunity to perform account review, maintenance, monitoring and administration functions including reviewing historical data for abuse, loss or fraud, revise or create help screen, and email access for inquiry capability 906.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a flow chart outlining the steps involved in a decision to deny refund request 400 (see C in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4), service charge refund database 42 c is updated 900. Service charge refund database 42 c captures all transactions in a manner that allows MIS reports, queries, and on-line reviews of past and present service charge history 902. Again, as discussed above at control sequence 904, a review group is provided with an opportunity to perform the functions as above.

The case where the request must be examined by backoffice before further action is detailed in FIG. 8. In addition to routing the transaction request to backoffice 910, functions 900, 902, 904 and 906 are also performed as outlined above.

The invention provides a flexible and broad based systems platform that enables customer service representatives and/or customers to enter customer-specific data into present fields, manually or from a customer/representative-specific system download, and electronically submit the information for service charge review/decision-making purposes.

Technology Design

Service Charge Adjustment platform 48 incorporates middleware software and workflow software. Inputs and outputs to the middleware/workflow systems are preferably provided via TOUCHPOINT or other such system at points of contact (branch/call center). The workflow system contains the business rules and roles to determine a consistent and intelligent decision for a service charge adjustment request (i.e. approved, denied or routed) based on a customer's relationship and profitability. Additionally, the middleware/workflow system 42 interfaces with various line of business systems to retrieve the data needed to support the business rules and send the approved transactions for update purposes. The middleware system updates the SCA relational database 42 c real-time, with all service charge adjustment requests to facilitate problem analysis. An overview of the component functionality is shown below:

Middleware/Workflow System

-   -   Requests received are processed by the workflow system rules         engine 42 b. The rules engine controls how SCA requests are         written to the SCA relational database 42 c. Approved requests         are routed to the appropriate line of business system for         process completion.     -   The rules engine 42 b determines proper levels of empowerment         for the point of contact staff and proper threshold amounts.     -   The middleware/workflow system 42 performs all required         functions including creating records on the relational database         for each approved SCA request, and initiates activities routed         to LOB, based on established parameters for SCA requests         requiring more research.     -   The workflow system 42 b also provides various administrative         functions including proof & control, back-up & recovery, and         MIS.         Email Messaging     -   E-mail messages are sent to various business areas and         departments advising them of excessive refunds on a customer's         account, excessive refunds by particular employee or point of         contact, or loss of profitability because of a service charge is         adjustment. Any other issues identified are routed via e-mail.     -   E-mail messages are received from various business areas and         departments initiating requests to research a service charge         adjustment request prior to approval.     -   E-mails received are automatically received by the Workflow         system real-time. Once approved, important information (i.e.         amount, date, account number) is automatically captured and         written to the SCA Relational Database.

Although e-mail is the preferred form of communication, it is readily apparent to one skilled in the art that any other satisfactory form of communication could be utilized without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

SCA Relational Database

-   -   All service charge adjustment requests and pertinent indicative         information received via the middleware system 42 a, are         organized and stored on a relational database 42 c.     -   The SCA relational database 42 c includes predefined queries and         filters to assist the review group in making decisions (i.e.         profitability measures, excessive adjustments and fraud         criteria). The information is retrieved and displayed in a         customized format.

A bridge to the middleware system allows information required on the customer's account that resides on the line of business systems 43 to be retrieved (e.g. customers who opened an account in the past 6 months).

-   -   Reports can be customized to facilitate analysis and review of         the service charge adjustment data.

Electronic data is preferably received and electronically downloaded to financial and customer information systems for automated decision-making. The SCA system 10 is preferably operated in such a manner to support fairly unlimited scale and is able to become a module of a customer banking system, integrated into an Internet banking platform for consumers and/or small business, or standalone.

The Line of Business (LOB) Decision Path is preferably incorporated into the workflow processing environment 42 to provide each LOB 43 with the capability to determine how service charge adjustment requests will be handled based on the following criteria:

-   -   Point of Contact Empowerment Level—depending on the level of         empowerment granted to each staff person handling an adjustment         request, that request may be granted/denied, or routed to the         LOB back-office for additional research.     -   Threshold Dollar Amounts—each LOB has a dollar limit imposed for         the various levels of staff to determine if additional manager         approval is needed or to route the request to their back-office.     -   Referral to the Back-Office—ability for each LOB to develop         criteria for when a request should be routed to their         back-office for further research.

Each LOB determines the business rules and roles for who can grant a service charge adjustment for other LOB based on the following criteria:

-   -   Staff Level (i.e. clerical, supervisor)—each LOB determines the         dollar amount allowed for an adjustment based on the staff level         handling the request, and the approval level required.     -   Dollar Amount of the Adjustment—Specific dollar threshold levels         are determined based on the service charge, the product, and the         staff level handling the request.         The Workflow Environment Preferably Provides the Following         Features and Functions:

Base Requirements

-   -   Existence of service charge being refunded—a service charge         adjustment/refund is allowed only if the charge exists in the         time period specified and has not been previously         refunded/adjusted. A refund/adjustment that exceeds the amount         of an actual charge will not be allowed.     -   High Value Customer protocols—each LOB identifies the customer         base parameters for coding a customer as High Value.     -   One-Time Courtesy policy—each LOB determines the time frame and         justification for when a one-time courtesy may be granted.     -   Reason for adjustment—each LOB specifies the         reasons/circumstances for which an adjustment/refund request         will be granted/denied.     -   Bank Error criteria—a set of rules are established on how to         handle bank errors in the adjustment/refund process. A         customer's history will not be a determining factor in this         case.     -   Customer Error criteria—each LOB determines how to handle a         customer error based on prior adjustment history for the         customer, the customer's profitability level, whether the         customer is a High Value customer, or if the customer has         already been granted a one-time courtesy adjustment.

Profitability Measures

-   -   High Value Customer protocols—as stated in base requirements         above.     -   Balances Maintained—Each LOB determines the profitability for a         customer based on deposit balances, credit balances, loan         balances, etc.     -   Products utilized—the number of products/services used by the         customer and overall contribution level is used to determine the         customer's profitability.     -   Service Charges incurred for the year—the dollar amount of         service charges a customer has incurred for the year, how much         was refunded or paid in full, is used in determining if a refund         is warranted.

Excessive Refund Criteria

-   -   Volume of prior adjustments—the number and dollar amount of         prior adjustments by a customer will be a consideration in         granting/denying an adjustment request. Adjustments that would         turn a profitable account unprofitable may not be granted.     -   Reasons for adjustments—reason codes defining why a customer has         requested prior adjustments are used to determine if the request         should be granted.

Fraud Criteria

-   -   Point of Contact processing adjustments—determine if the         representative has frequently granted adjustments to the same         account.     -   Reasons for adjustments—determine if the same reasons are         continually used for granting an adjustment (e.g. one-time         courtesy).     -   Prior adjustments performed—monitor prior adjustments performed         by a specific individual or account to determine if charges are         infrequently paid or are fraudulent.     -   Dollar amount of adjustments—determine if specific         representative has refunded large amounts of adjustments         compared to other representatives.

Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims. 

1. Apparatus for providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to said customer's account, comprising: a network interface for sending and receiving data over an electronic network; a service charge adjustment system coupled to the network interface, the service charge adjustment system performing at least the functions of: receiving a request from the customer to make an adjustment to the account, wherein the request for adjustment relates to a charge or fee posted against the customer's account; delivering the request to an automated interface, wherein the automated interface performs at least the functions of: (1) retrieving at least one business rule from a business rules database, and (2) applying the at least one business rule to arrive at a decision regarding the request, and wherein said automated interface performs each of the following: (1) validating the existence of a service charge, (2) determining the cost-effectiveness of granting the request, (3) checking to see if the customer has a special status, (4) determining if a bank error has occurred, (5) checking to see if the customer is a high value customer, (6) rating the profitability of granting the request, (7) checking to see if the customer has made at least a predetermined number of previous requests, (8) ascertaining if the customer has been granted at least one courtesy adjustment, and (9) determining if the request is justified; automatically rendering a decision on the request using the automated interface; and presenting the customer with the decision with respect to the request, wherein the decision is one of the following: granting an adjustment request, denying an adjustment request, and referring a request to an external system for further consideration.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the network interface is further operable to perform the function of: maintaining an electronic site on the electronic network to which the customer may connect.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the network interface is further operable to perform the function of: presenting at least a first electronic screen over the electronic network to the customer who has connected to the electronic site.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the automated interface is further operable to perform the functions of: requesting at least a first customer information; and validating the first customer information.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first customer information includes at least the following: a user name; and a password.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first customer information also includes at least the following: name and address of the customer; and date of service charge transaction.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, if the service charge is valid, including the step of denying said adjustment request.
 8. A method of providing a customer with an opportunity to electronically request an adjustment to the customer's account comprising the steps of: (a) maintaining an electronic site on a network to which the customer may connect; (b) presenting at least one electronic screen over the network to the customer who has connected to the electronic site, the one screen including a first input field for receiving a first command from the customer indicative of the request for an adjustment to the customer's account, wherein the request for adjustment relates to a charge or fee posted against the customer's account; (c) electronically delivering the first command to an automated interface which converts a format of the first command to another format for allowing the automated interface to act on the request, wherein the automated interface performs at least the functions of: (1) retrieving at least one business rule from a business rules database, and (2) applying the at least one business rule to arrive at a decision regarding the request, and wherein said automated interface performs each of the following: (1) validating the existence of a service charge, (2) determining the cost-effectiveness of granting the request, (3) checking to see if the customer has a special status, (4) determining if a bank error has occurred, (5) checking to see if the customer is a high value customer, (6) rating the profitability of granting the request, (7) checking to see if the customer has made at least a predetermined number of previous requests, (8) ascertaining if the customer has been granted at least one courtesy adjustment, and (9) determining if the request is justified; and (d) automatically rendering and presenting a decision concerning the request, wherein the decision is one of the following: granting an adjustment request, denying an adjustment request, and referring a request to an external system for further consideration.
 9. A method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account comprising the steps of: receiving a request from the customer to make an adjustment to the account, wherein the request for adjustment relates to a charge or fee posted against the customer's account; delivering the request to an automated interface, wherein the automated interface performs at least the functions of: (1) retrieving at least one business rule from a business rules database, and (2) applying the at least one business rule to arrive at a decision regarding the request, and wherein said automated interface is operable to perform each of the following: (1) validating the existence of a service charge, (2) determining the cost-effectiveness of granting the request, (3) checking to see if the customer has a special status, (4) determining if a bank error has occurred, (5) checking to see if the customer is a high value customer, (6) rating the profitability of granting the request, (7) checking to see if the customer has made at least a predetermined number of previous requests, (8) ascertaining if the customer has been granted at least one courtesy adjustment, and (9) determining if the request is justified; automatically rendering a decision on the request using the automated interface; and presenting the customer with the decision with respect to the request, wherein the decision is one of the following: granting an adjustment request, denying an adjustment request, and referring a request to an external system for further consideration.
 10. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9 further comprising the steps of: maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the customer may connect.
 11. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 10 further comprising the steps of: presenting at least one electronic screen over the network to the customer who has connected to the electronic site, at least one screen including at least a first input field operable to receive the request from the customer.
 12. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9, wherein the request is made across a computer network.
 13. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 10 wherein the computer network is the Internet.
 14. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9 wherein the request is received by facsimile.
 15. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9 wherein the request is delivered by mail.
 16. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9 wherein the request is delivered by contact with a customer service representative.
 17. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 16 wherein the contact is made over a communication network.
 18. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 17 wherein the communication network is a telephone system.
 19. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 17 wherein the communication network is the Internet.
 20. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 16 wherein the contact is made directly in person with the customer service representative.
 21. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer account according to claim 9 wherein the automated interface converts a first format of the adjustment request to at least a second format for use within the automated interface.
 22. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 10 wherein the electronic site is a website.
 23. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 22 wherein the website is hosted in a shared operating environment.
 24. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9 wherein the automated interface establishes a record of the request.
 25. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9 wherein the automated interface initiates research to determine the validity of the request.
 26. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9 wherein the decision on the request is a refund.
 27. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9 wherein the decision on the request is a denial.
 28. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9 wherein the response to the request is a referral for further consideration.
 29. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 28, wherein the referral for further consideration includes an estimate on when a final decision will be made.
 30. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9 wherein the automated interface utilizes a predetermined rules algorithm to determine the response to the request.
 31. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 30 wherein the predetermined rules algorithm includes sending the request for additional processing when predetermined criteria are met.
 32. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 31, wherein the additional processing includes human intervention.
 33. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9, wherein the automated interface automatically approves the request of a high value customer.
 34. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9, wherein the automated interface checks the request for fraud using a fraud detecting algorithm.
 35. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9, wherein the automated interface checks the request for employee misconduct.
 36. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 9, wherein the automated interface checks the request for an excessive request history of the customer according to a predefined criteria.
 37. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 26, wherein the refund is made automatically to the customer by electronically crediting the account.
 38. A method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account comprising the steps of: maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the customer may connect; presenting at least one electronic screen over the network to the customer who has connected to the electronic site, the at least one screen including at least a first input field for receiving the adjustment request from the customer, wherein the adjustment request relates to a charge or fee posted against the customer's account; delivering said adjustment request to an automated interface, wherein the automated interface performs at least the functions of: (1) retrieving at least one business rule from a business rules database, and (2) applying the at least one business rule to arrive at a decision regarding the request, and wherein said automated interface is operable to perform each of the following: (1) validating the existence of a service charge, (2) determining the cost-effectiveness of granting the request, (3) checking to see if the customer has a special status, (4) determining if a bank error has occurred, (5) checking to see if the customer is a high value customer, (6) rating the profitability of granting the request, (7) checking to see if the customer has made at least a predetermined number of previous requests, (8) ascertaining if the customer has been granted at least one courtesy adjustment, and (9) determining if the request is justified; automatically rendering a decision on the request using the automated interface; and presenting said customer with the decision on said adjustment request, wherein the decision is one of the following: granting an adjustment request, denying an adjustment request, and referring a request to an external system for further consideration.
 39. The method of providing a customer with an opportunity to request an adjustment to the customer's account according to claim 38, wherein the step of automatically rendering a decision on the request includes the following: retrieving at least one business rule from a business rules database; applying the at least one business rule to the request; and arriving at the decision on the request. 